


Words

by poorrichardslegacy



Series: Kacxa Week 2020 (Galra Chronicles AU) [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Kacxa Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26910880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poorrichardslegacy/pseuds/poorrichardslegacy
Summary: Keith and Acxa’s daughters have passed their Trials of Marmora and embark on their first combat mission, against the pirates of Penzarance. The girls learn that words can cut just as deeply as any Luxite Blade, and just as importantly they learn about the power of forgiveness from their parents.
Relationships: Acxa/Keith (Voltron)
Series: Kacxa Week 2020 (Galra Chronicles AU) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959658
Comments: 10
Kudos: 7





	Words

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for Day 6 of Kacxa Week 2020

It was the call Keith hoped he would never hear.

“Dad…please…come quickly…Mom’s down!”

His heart about to explode in his chest from its rapid beating, Keith races across the battlefield to his daughter’s position.

This raid was the first combat assignment with Blade of Marmora for both of his daughters since the successful completion of their Trials of Marmora two decaphoebs earlier. Keith had high hopes for this mission. This would be the opportunity for his girls to prove their worth, that they can function as full-fledged members of the Blade of Marmora.

Unfortunately, events began to spiral out of his control even before the start of the engagement on Penzarance.

And now it seems things have gone horribly wrong.

\---------------

** Twelve Vargas Earlier **

Against Keith’s wishes, Acxa sets the assault team rosters so that Mireya is a member of her team. As Blade Master he does not countermand her decision because he does not want Acxa’s authority undermined within the Blade of Marmora. He also knows that he will catch hell from at least one of the women in his family no matter what he does.

However, he warns her about how this move will be perceived not only by the other Blades, but by Mireya.

Mireya is anything but pleased about this turn of events. To her, this is another example of her mother hovering over her, nitpicking everything she does. This time, Mireya decides to stand up for herself. She confronts her mother in front of her father, great uncle, and sister, and starts a rather vociferous argument over the assignment. Anyone observing it would call it a blowup of galactic proportions.

“Why, Mom? Dad explicitly stated that he wanted Cataleya and I assigned to Uncle Meltok’s command. I don’t get it. Why are you doing this?”

“There is nothing to ‘get’, Mireya. I’m the tactical leader of this operation, and I have the final say on team assignments. I am not used to having my orders questioned and I will not tolerate it now. You are a Blade of Marmora going on a combat mission. You are expected to obey orders, and I expect you to obey these orders.”

Mireya, just turned 18, storms out of the briefing room but not before screaming at her mother.

“You’re suffocating me, Mom! I hate you! I HOPE YOU DIE! Maybe then I can finally breathe.”

Not happy with his daughter’s choice of words, Keith calls after her just as she slams the door to the briefing room. “Mireya you don’t mean that.”

Cataleya, just as upset with the situation as her sister, takes a deep breath before trying to calm her visibly upset mother.

“Mom, she didn’t mean that.”

Cut deeply by Mireya’s words, Acxa tries to hide the hurt from Cataleya. “I don’t know Cataleya…your sister and I have been butting heads for so long now.”

“Mom that’s because you two are so much alike in personality. Stubbornness and all. Give her some space. She’ll come around.”

Keith starts to go after Mireya, but Cataleya stops him.

“Dad, wait. Let me talk to her. No offense, she might listen to me.”

\---------------

The scene is the nightmare scenario Keith feared it would be.

His wife lay in a bomb crater, bleeding from a shrapnel wound to the stomach. Her right arm and shoulder are badly lacerated. He thinks to himself that it is a good thing she is unconscious. The pain must be unbearable.

He races to her and begins treatment to stabilize her. He does his best to keep his emotions in check as he works to save the life of the woman who said she would be his until the day she died. He does not want today to be that day.

“Mireya did you call for medical backup?”

“I…uncle…coming…”

She stands there, frozen by the sight of her critically injured mother.

Meltok leaps into the crater and quickly moves to Acxa’s side, his first-aid kit already open. “Medivac is on its way, Keith. Bars is talking to them. Let me check her.”

Keith steps back as his uncle, an accomplished field medic, hurries to stabilize Acxa until medivac arrives. Cataleya joins them and stands next to her shell-shocked sister.

Struggling against the flood of his own emotions as he battles to hold it together, Keith turns to his daughters.

“Cataleya, take your sister to the rear. I’ll meet up with you two once your mother is stabilized.”

Keith looks calmly at his daughters, both now frozen by the sight of their injured mother. He speaks to them in a calm and level voice. “Go on, soldiers. I gave you an order. Move to the rear.”

Cataleya snaps out of it and manages a shaky, “Yes sir.”

Blade of Marmora Sergeant Bars joins Keith and Meltok. “Medivac is incoming. They’ll be here in two doboshes. Master Chief, how bad?”

Meltok does not pull any punches. “Bad, Bars. Really bad.”

\---------------

As the medivac team moves in to prep Acxa for evacuation to the field hospital, Meltok reminds Keith of something.

“Go back with her and talk to her.”

“What?”

“Remember what she did for you after you nearly got blown to kingdom come by one of Honerva’s white mechs?1 Talk to her. Give her a reason to hang on until the docs back at the field hospital can stabilize her. Don’t worry about this operation. I’ll take command and mop these pirates up. You worry about your wife.”

\---------------

Keith goes with the Acxa and the medics to the rear. After seven hours of surgery, with Keith present, she emerges, in critical but stable condition.

His aunt Miara, a first-rate doctor in her own right and in charge of the field hospital, comes in to keep a close eye on her.

“Keith, you need to talk to Mireya. She’s been inconsolable since Cataleya took her to the rear. Come to think of it, Cataleya isn’t doing much better.”

“I guess the sight of their mother…in that state…that would do it. Aunt Miara, would you send them in. They need to see that their mother is going to be ok”

\---------------

The girls are ushered into the room by Miara. Mireya rushes to her mother’s bedside, takes her hand, and begins sobbing inconsolably.

“Mom…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t want you to die. Please, Mom, don’t leave.”

Cataleya sits on the other side of her mother’s bed, holding Acxa’s left hand. She remains silent, but her tears flow just as freely.

Keith goes to console Mireya, taking her in his arms and letting her get her emotions out. When she finally calms down enough to speak, he asks her what happened.

“We were pinned down. We were taking heavy ion rifle fire and we couldn’t move forward. Mom was so calm. Dad, she was amazing. She said the only way we could beat them was to distract them, flank them, so that we could get close enough to lob grenades into their position to take them out. She asked me if I could do that…I said I could. I wanted her to trust me and this was my chance. Two of us made a flanking maneuver around the right side of the pirate defensive line. We drew their fire, and Mom was able to get close enough to throw two grenades into their position.”

“One went off. The fuse on the other was defective. One of the pirates threw the grenade back into her position. It exploded before she could take cover. I saw Mom go down…and I freaked out.”

“Freaked out in what way, honey?”

“I was so mad that I charged the pirate position single handedly. I think I took out, seven, eight pirates?”

While Mireya explains what happened, Meltok joins them and, standing at the entrance to the room listens to most of her explanation. When she gets to the part where she guesses at how many pirates she took down, he clears his throat to get Keith’s attention.

“That’s not quite true, Mireya. You didn’t take out 8 pirates. It was more like 20.”

Shocked, Keith looks first at Mireya, then at Meltok. “She did what?”

“You would have been proud of her, Keith. She took out twelve with her blaster pistol. Twelve shots, twelve kills. The last eight she took down with her Blade. Watching her with the pistol, she reminded me of her mother; watching her with her Blade, she reminded me of her father.”

“For the record…Cataleya is no slouch in those categories either. She’s just as good as her sister and she proved it today. She took out and entire gun line in the bunker complex, about 20 pirates, by herself.”

Mireya looks at her father hopefully. “Dad…is Mom going to be ok?”

Keith calls his daughters to him and gives them both a tight hug.

“She’s going to be sore, honey, but she’ll pull through. Your mother is tough. She’s been through worse than this. Let’s see, she’s crash-landed inside the belly of an intergalactic space worm, she was poisoned by Bralarian Hyenas after flying her ship to Braylar IV with a broken arm2, she was almost skewered by Sendak after fighting him on top of a cruiser that was plummeting to Earth3…and she gave birth to you two hellions. She’ll pull through. Besides, she loves you girls too much to leave you now.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. Mom heard everything we just said. She heard Uncle Meltok say what you both did today. I know when she wakes up, she’ll tell you proud she is of her daughters.”

A still very agitated Mireya is not so sure. “Yeah…if she ever forgives me for being an ungrateful little bitch…”

“She knows you are not that, honey. Hey, I have an idea. I think Mom would like it if the three of us sat here with her and talked to her for a bit. Would you be willing to do that with me?”

\---------------

Six vargas later, Acxa wakes up from her ordeal.

Vaguely aware of her husband’s presence, she reaches out for him. “Keith…?”

Keith squeezes her hand and leans closer so she can see him. “I’m here, love.”

“Thank you…for staying here with me. And talking to me. I heard you. Where…where are the girls? Are they…?”

“They are safe, and they are well. Aunt Miara took them to get something to eat.” Keith gently strokes her hair and horns. “You my dear have two heroes on your hands. Cataleya took out an entire gun line in the middle sector by herself. Mireya single-handedly took out the heavy rifle emplacements in your sector. It would seem that our daughters are now seasoned combat veterans. They’re not little girls anymore, Acxa.”

Acxa closes her eyes for a moment as she desperately tries to hold back the tears. Opening them, she turns towards Keith, sadness reflected in her deep blue eyes. “Where are my girls? I need to see them. I need to…”

From the shadows, her daughters tentatively emerge. “We…we’re here Mom.”

Mireya rushes to Acxa’s side and buries her head against her mother’s arm. “Mom, I’m so sorry about what I said before the mission. I didn’t mean _any_ of that. When I saw you go down, I…I went crazy. Mom, please forgive me. I’m a horrible daughter.”

Fully awake now and aware of her daughter’s mental state, Acxa easily slips back into Mom mode. “No Mireya…you are a wonderful daughter. I forgot how much you’ve grown these past two decaphoebs. You’re an adult now. It’s time I started treating you like one.”

She looks at Cataleya and calls her over. “It’s time I started treating both of you like the adults you are. I’m so proud of both of you.”

Keith looks on with pride at his family.

“Acxa, you need to rest. I’ll sit with you. You girls need to get some rest as well.”

Cataleya does not want to hear that. “Dad, we’re not leaving. We’re staying with you and Mom.”

Acxa looks at Keith. “You know they get their stubbornness from their father.”

“Said the pot to the kettle. Go to sleep, woman!”

“No! I’m going to lay hear and let my daughters entertain me with stories of their exploits.”

Keith looks first at Acxa, then at his daughters.

“And your mother says I’m the stubborn one…”

1 Rejected by the Galra, [Chapter 14 The Shared Path](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20910512/chapters/49774406)

2 Return of the Prince, [Chapter 14, Cry of the Wolf](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22913725/chapters/56123887)

3 Rejected by the Galra, [Chapter 12 Lions Pride](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20910512/chapters/49773326)


End file.
